


Euchre

by AppalachianApologies



Series: Appalachian's 2020 Whumptober [12]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Badass Spencer Reid, Broken Bones, Hurt Spencer, Hurt Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid Whump, Spencer Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2020, if i whumped spencer again, oh wait yes you would because i have a problem and my entire account is just whumping spencer, you would not believe your eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppalachianApologies/pseuds/AppalachianApologies
Summary: It's really not fair that Morgan got to go back in the field, while Spencer was confined to the precinct. Somehow, the bad luck still finds him.Day 12: Broken Bones
Series: Appalachian's 2020 Whumptober [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948174
Comments: 27
Kudos: 243
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Euchre

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends!! I hope your day is going well, and welcome to another week of October! Today I'm bringing you more Hurt Spencer, so please enjoy!
> 
> Enjoy! :D

The BAU fans out like branches on a tree, a pair of agents shouting, “Clear!” in every room they breach. The old, victorian style house has hallways upon hallways, and Spencer knows that he’s not the only one that thinks that it’s a bit excessive.

Morgan opened his mouth to confirm the lack of unsubs in the room, when Spencer shouts, “Morgan!”

The Agent whips his head to the side as the unsub attempts to tackle him, pistol falling to the ground. Morgan and the unsub fall to the ground, leaving Spencer holding his Smith & Wesson without a clear shot. 

The unsub pushes Morgan’s head to the ground three times, and Spencer holsters his gun to tackle the unsub off of his friend. Even with his lanky form, Spencer manages to tackle the linebacker off of Morgan’s chest.

“You fuckin’ twink!” The unsub shouts, pushing Spencer off.

Spencer sends a glance to Morgan, whose eyes are blinking sluggishly, as he tries to pull himself up using the wall. There’s blood on the back of the older man’s head, but Spencer doesn’t have time to think of that right now.

Sending a punch to the unsub’s sternum, Spencer tries to wriggle out of his grasp. Too distracted with avoiding kicks, Spencer doesn’t notice as the unsub reaches underneath the wardrobe, withdrawing a rifle.

When it comes into view, the doctor’s first thought is, ‘Who the hell keeps a rifle underneath their dresser?’ However he doesn’t have very long to dwell on it, because suddenly the butt of the rifle is coming down to his face.

Out of pure instinct, Spencer pulls his forearms over his head and turns to the side. The rifle comes down a second before Morgan launches himself at the unsub.

At first, Spencer thinks that Morgan got the unsub in time. A second later the pain hits, and Spencer chokes out a whimper.

His right arm throbs, sharp pulses of pain spreading down his fingertips and up to his shoulder. 

“Pretty boy! You alright?”

Spencer groans in response, hating his eyes for watering.

The other members of the BAU come running around the corner, quickly cuffing the unsub, with a bit more force than strictly necessary.

“Spence?” JJ asks, coming into his line of sight. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

As much as Spencer wants to tell her that’s he’s fine, just a bit dazed, he splutters out, “Arm,”

Crouching next to him, JJ asks, “Let me see,”

“Is Morgan okay?” He questions instead.

JJ turns her head, confirming what she already knew. “Rossi is with him. He got a pretty bad hit to the head.” When she looks back to Spencer, she asks again, “Can I see your arm?”

Spencer shakes his head, but nevertheless releases his left hand. JJ rolls up his shirt sleeve, and no matter how gently she does it, Spencer still hisses in pain. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Rossi and Hotch helping Morgan up, all of their faces pulled into worry.

“I think you’re gonna need a hospital for this, Spence,” JJ advises softly, pulling Spencer’s thoughts back to his own injury.

Shaking his head, he replies, “No, no, I’m fine.”

Leaving Morgan with Rossi, Hotch glares at his youngest agent’s arm and announces, “You’re going with Morgan to the hospital.” 

Sending an alarmed glance up, Spencer weakly counters, “Wha- no, I don’t need to go to the hospital,”

“Reid.” Hotch starts, a tone of voice that Spencer knows he won’t be able to get out of, “I’m not going to negotiate with you on this. Your arm is already swelling,”

With a scrunched up face, Spencer concedes, “Oh.”

“C’mon,” Hotch insists, holding a hand out to his good arm to pull him off the ground. “You don’t have to go in the ambulance, but we’re taking you and Morgan to urgent care.”

Spencer opens his mouth to disagree, but JJ’s worried glance silences him. He’ll get checked out for JJ and the team. But not for himself.

Four hours later find him trying to get comfortable on the jet with a bulky white cast up to his elbow. There’s a discarded sling on the seat next to him, and Emily throws it at his face when she walks over.

“Wear your sling, youngen,” Emily nags with a smile.

“‘Youngen’?” Spencer questions with a frown, “You’re barely older than me!”

Emily just puts a finger to her lips and responds, “Shh. The adults are talking.”

“Em-”

Morgan groans from the couch, “Pretty boy. Shush. I need sleep.”

Ignoring Emily’s smirk, Spencer sends her a glance that says, ‘This isn’t over.’

“You’ll be out of the cast before you know it,” She starts again, sliding into the seat that once held his sling. “And you’ll be out of it faster if you wear the sling.”

Although not without a grumble, Spencer puts the sling back on and settles into the crook of his seat.

He takes a deep breath, willing himself to sleep. Emily’s right. The cast will be off before he even knows it.

*

Two weeks later finds Spencer back on the jet, feeling just as annoyed with his cast as he did an hour after getting it.

Miraculously, Morgan only needed a few stitches, and got away without a concussion. Spencer’s a little too jealous of Morgan’s doctor’s note letting him go back in the field. The young agent is only a few minutes away from ripping off his sling and burning it in ritual fire, but he’s pretty sure Hotch would notice.

Also, the jet has smoke detectors.

Spencer’s brain runs a mile a minute, calculating statistics on the gender and race of the unsub, even before Garcia has finished giving them more information through the jet’s screens. JJ frowns, and opens her mouth to ask a question, but Spencer manages to get a fact out before any sounds escapes.

“Garcia, does Michael have any siblings? An older brother?”

Pausing, she answers, “Junior G-Man, sometimes I’m pretty sure you’re not human. Because yes! Mr. Munro has one older brother of four years, Darryl Munro.”

“They’re working together,” Spencer announces, pulling his head out of the file.

“There’s only one set of prints at the dump sites,” Emily points out.

Shaking his head, Spencer clarifies, “Their relationship is strained. Most likely, Michael is taking women to get attention and appreciation from his older brother.”

Quirking an eyebrow up, Rossi connects the dots. “And after Darryl kills them, Michael is the one to dump the bodies, keeping his older brother safe.”

“Exactly.”

Hotch nods, and looks up at Garcia. “Keep us updated. We’ll let you know when we’ve landed.”

“Got it!” Her cheery voice chirps through, “PG, out!”

“When we land, Emily and Rossi, meet the LEOs at the newest crime scene, Reid and JJ get set up at the station, and Morgan, you and I will go to the mortician’s office.” Hotch instructs, flipping a few pages in his file.

After everyone on the team nods, Morgan turns to Spencer. “Pretty boy, how’d you know Munro had a brother?”

Shrugging, he replies, “It just made sense,”

Morgan gives a good natured scoff, before turning back to his own file.

Just as planned, when the BAU touches down, JJ and Spencer drive to the precinct. During the entire car ride, Spencer mindlessly picks at the edges of his cast and the seam of his sling, before JJ sets her hand on his good shoulder.

“Spence,”

Having not noticed her worried glances, Spencer jerks up when he feels JJ’s hand. “Hmm?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Turning back to the road, JJ replies, “You haven’t stopped moving since we got on the plane.”

As if a switch was turned off, Spencer’s bouncing leg and writhing fingers immediately still. “Oh,” He clenches his teeth. “I didn’t realize.”

With a small smile, JJ offers, “You don’t have to stop. I was just making sure that you’re alright.”

“I’m good,” Spencer answers, semi-honestly. “I just want to solve the case.”

“You basically did, on the jet,” JJ points out with a laugh. “We’ll be out of here in no time.”

Frowning, he counters, “We still have to find the unsubs,”

“That’s the easy part,”

Spencer makes an unimpressed noise, and continues picking at his sling. Sensing his anxiety, JJ doesn’t push it. 

As per usual, the local detectives and officers aren’t very impressed with JJ nor Spencer. There’s always someone who’s making the wrong assumptions regarding the two youngest agents, but usually it’s not the entire precinct.

Spencer quickly makes himself acquainted with the coffee machine and an empty whiteboard, and when JJ checks in a few minutes later, there’s already a clutter of maps on the board. Cap in mouth, Spencer takes a marker and draws a few connecting lines in red, and JJ has no clue of what he’s thinking. 

“What’ve you got?” JJ asks, taking a sip of her own cup of coffee.

Pulling his lip out of the grasp of his teeth, Spencer replies, “I’m not sure yet,”

“Are these the victims’ locations?”

“No,” Spencer corrects, shaking his head, “The dump sites, but-” He cuts himself off, making another line.

Tilting her head to the side, JJ requests, “Hey, wait, Spence, where’s the map of downtown?” He points to a stack of papers on the ground, and JJ quickly picks it up, looking between it and the map on the whiteboard.

Making the connection just as JJ does, Spencer murmurs, “It’s a 1:1 ratio of the court buildings downtown,” 

“He’s leaving the bodies in the same pattern, except in a neighborhood instead.” JJ finishes, wondering, not for the first time, what goes on in unsubs’ heads.

However before she can continue to muse on that fact, a slamming door interrupts her thoughts. Merely seconds later, a cacophony of gunshots pierce through the precinct.

“Nobody draw your guns!” A booming voice shouts, but JJ’s already reached for her.

Peering out of the glass conference room door, Spencer frowns, “The Munro brothers?” After a nod from JJ, he continues to himself, “Who’s stupid enough to bring themselves to a room full of officers?”

After more yelling, along with panicked screams, Spencer makes the connection. “They know we’re here,”

JJ frowns. “What?”

“They know the FBI is here. In the city,” Spencer specifies. “They know they aren’t getting out of this, so they’re going to bring down as many people as they can.”

“Shit,” JJ mutters, uncocking her gun.

But just as she lines up for a shot, Spencer pushes her arms down. “Wait,”

“Why?”

“There’s two of them,” He points out, “So even if you manage to get a clean shot on one,” He trails off, knowing that JJ understands. 

With a nervous swallow, JJ asks, “What’s your plan then? We can’t just sit here and let a bunch of cops get shot,”

“Let me think, let me think,” Spencer murmurs, shaking out his hands at the wrist. Or at least, one wrist. He mouths words, brain running through scenario after scenario, until JJ nudges him again.

“Spence?”

“We have to make ourselves known.” He declares.

JJ gives him an incredulous look. “What?!” She questions in a low tone.

“Play into the stereotypes,” Spencer whispers back. “They’re expecting big bad men in suits,” He continues, “They’re not going to be intimidated by a woman and a scrawny man in a dress shirt.” Spencer takes a quick glance outside the door, only to find one of the brothers making his way towards the room. “Hide your gun,” He gets out before the glass is unceremoniously smashed.

Spencer thinks it’s a bit overkill. The door was unlocked- he didn’t need to break it.

“Who the hell are you?” The man snarls, and Spencer can tell that it’s the older brother. “Tryin’ to hide from me?”

Taking Spencer’s advice, JJ curls in on herself, hiding the gun as well as looking like a damsel. “N-no,” She faux stutters.

“Sure seems like ya’ are,” Darryl barks back. 

Subconsciously pulling his broken arm further towards his chest, Spencer timidly insists, “We weren’t trying to hide,” 

Picking him up by the collar, Darryl shoves him out the door, before pointing his gun at JJ. “C’mon pretty little lady, you too.” After snooping around and finding their badges, Darryl gives another growl. “F-B-fuckin’-I? For real?”

Spencer tenses. There’s a good chance his entire plan is about to go downhill.

“Hey Mikey!” Darryl calls, “Come look at these absolute pieces of shit excuses for agents!”

While he looks through Spencer’s beloved messenger bag, the young agent takes the time to quickly look around the precinct, wincing as he sees the damage. Nearly all of the officers are wounded, and some might even be dead. Spencer cringes when he thinks about a fire fight against an automatic weapon that the Munro siblings most definitely shouldn’t have.

Blinking a few times, Spencer glups, “Please, I-I’m not even a full agent,” He tries. “I don’t even have full clear-clearance,” Spencer has never wished for the ability to cry on command as he does right now.

“Yeah?” Michael scoffs, lightly kicking his shoe, “I believe it. ‘Look like a twink picked up off of 38th and Broadway.”

Internally, Spencer grimaces. Michael Munro had picked up the majority of his victims from 38th and Broadway, known as the most common place in the city for prostitutes to search for work.

Grinning at JJ, Darryl questions, “And what ‘bout you, pretty lady? Are you also an agent?”

Shyly looking up from underneath her eyelashes, JJ gulps, “I’m just here to help out the media,” A few years ago, and it wouldn’t have even necessarily been a lie.

“The media?”

“Yeah,” JJ confirms, “I’m just a media liaison, I promise,” She sends Spencer a quick glance before wringing her hands together, pretending to be shy. “I-I’m just here to help reporters, I swear.” JJ’s blood curdles when Darryl reaches down to pull a strand of her hair out from her ear. Internally counting to ten, she forces herself to not drop kick that son of a bitch.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Spencer slowly inching closer and closer, doing an awkward one arm crawl. She continues playing the dumb blonde, keeping both of the brothers’ attention. Despite her internal yelling, Spencer carefully slips out of his sling, and crawls behind Darryl.

He points to Michael, and with his casted arm, makes a crude version of ‘gun’ in sign language. JJ makes a minute nod, trusting Spencer with his life.

He counts down with his fingers, three, two, one.

Without hesitation, JJ rips out the gun from her holster hidden from her blazer, shooting Michael between the eyes, and narrowly avoiding his body when he falls.

At the same time, Spencer brings down his casted arm on Darryl’s crouched form, preventing him from pulling the trigger on his own weapon. There’s shouts from both of the men, one from surprise, and the other from pain.

Taking a second to confirm her friend’s well being, JJ pulls the trigger on the other Munro sibling. Pulling the weapons away from the dead body out of habit, JJ calls out, “Spence?”

Eyes clenched shut, Spencer answers, “Fine,” unconvincingly.

“Shit,” JJ breathes, looking around the precinct. She hits speed dial 2, and there’s only half of a ring before she demands, “Hotch.”

She hears a bit of shuffling on the other end before he answers, “JJ? Everything alright?”

Figuring there’s no reason to sugarcoat it, she quickly answers, “You need to get back to the precinct. And we need ambulances. Multiple.”

“What happened?” Hotch nearly yells. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. It was the Munro brothers,” JJ halfheartedly explains. “They shot up the precinct,”

She can hear a car engine starting when Hotch inquires, “How’s Reid?”

Sucking in a breath, JJ answers, “His arm- I think.”

“Is it bad?”

“I think he re-broke it,” JJ confesses.

“Shit.” Hotch declares, and JJ couldn’t agree more. “Any casualties?”

JJ nods, even though the recipient can’t see it. “Both of the brothers. Possibly some officers.”

“Morgan’s sending paramedics your way,” Hotch states. “We’ll be there in a second.”

“Got it,” JJ confirms. “And Hotch?”

“Yeah?”

“Use the sirens.” The phone call ends right as the piercing noise begins.

Dropping her phone back into her pocket, JJ slides down next to her friend. She winces when he’s breathing tightly through his teeth, eyes clenched shut. “Spence?” 

“‘M fine,” He groans, eyes barely creeping open.

“Doesn’t look like it,” JJ points out quietly, without malice. She reaches out to inspect his right arm, but Spencer instantly jerks back.

Sucking in a quick breath he grunts, “Don’t touch it,”

Withdrawing her hand, she questions, “‘That bad?” When he doesn’t reply, she asks again, “Spence?”

Finally, he gets out, “I don’t want to wear the sling again,” With a whimper.

“I don’t think you’re gonna have much of a choice at this point,”

When Hotch and Morgan arrive, Rossi and Prentiss hot on their heels, he takes one look at Spencer’s ghostly pale face, and sends him off to the hospital. After Spencer adamantly refuses to take an ambulance, Hotch places him in the passenger seat with JJ driving.

His wince when the car rumbles to a start is not missed by anyone.

The two of them sit in the orthopedics bay, ice packs and a temporary brace littering Spencer’s right arm. 

JJ awkwardly looks around before pointing out, “On the plus side, your arm now matches Henry’s ‘Get Well’ card he made for the first break,”

Between the ice packs, a horrifying molten red and blue peak out. Spencer can’t help but chuckle. “I guess you’re right.”

“What color cast are you going to get?”

Cracking another smile, Spencer informs her, “I already told you, JJ, I’m just going to get white, because-”

With a good natured roll of her eyes, she finishes, “Because it’s the most professional, blah, blah, blah.” Nudging his left side, she goads, “C’mon, Spence. What about green? What about purple! It could match your scarf,”

Before he can continue his counter argument, he gets called back.

A quick few x-rays later, confirming the rebreak, Spencer’s getting his newest cast.

After placing the base plasters down, the attendee asks him, “What color would you like?”

He just grins.

*

Back on the jet, Morgan lets him take the couch.

“I can’t believe it, Pretty Boy,”

“What?” Spencer questions, although he already knows.

“Pink? Really?”

Grinning, he replies, “I think it suits me well.”

**Author's Note:**

> You guys are so great- all of the support you've given me just makes me honestly speechless. There are not words to describe how amazing each and every one of you guys are! I'm in complete awe with your kindness :)
> 
> I have math homework due today, so I can't ramble as much in the author's note as I would want to lol. That being said, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Come talk with me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/appalachianapologies) (AppalachianApologies) if you'd like! I'm always so down to meet new people :D
> 
> I love you all very much, and I hope you all are doing okay. If you find yourself in a bad or scary situation, here are some hotlines (Please keep in mind that the written out numbers are US hotlines)
> 
> National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255  
> National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673  
> National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
> 
> If you don't live in America and need someone to talk to, here's a list of [international hotlines.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines)  
> You are not alone, and I love you all <3
> 
> Much love to all of you, and take care until tomorrow!! <3


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